Epilamization agents for all materials. Coatings for for-life lubrication.

Optimizing investigations of components and materials. Damage and failure analyses.

Tribological consulting for construction and development - worldwide and short-term.

Tribological test devices . Own construction, production and software.

Seminars on basics and training.

Tribological problems render technical products uncertain

Loss of function due to excessive friction

Special lubricants where minimum
volumes need to have a maximum effect

Product life problems due to wear

Customer dissatisfaction due to noise

From the search for causes to reliable solutions

System analyses of customer components. Examination of the bearing design.

Ball/plate test device(oscillating)
Friction and wear test

What is the cause of the problem? Friction, wear, lubricant, design or material?

What is the optimum solution, and how can it be realized in production?

Free Europe-wide service to determine status.

Friction and wear investigations in our own test laboratory.

Lubricant laboratory for fast adaptation.

Our knowledge in the field of plastic tribology is unique in the entire world, and is based on more than 5,000 independent analyses of friction and wear.

Outstanding characteristics and properties of our special lubricants, definitions and a short description

The following text was written in an easy manner on purpose, to facilitate the search for our productsin the world wide web.

Watch and clock oils are special lubricants for very fine mechanisms. All of these mechanisms are using indicators or gauge-discs. The dimensions of a clockwork are tiny. Bearing and shaft diameters can be less than one millimeter.

Bearings and sliding zones are lubricated by watch and clock oils. The materials used here can vary. Steel, brass, sapphire, ruby and increasingly often plastics are being used. Some applications even use die-cast zink, magnesium, aluminum and stainless steels. Some of the metallic materials are additionally galvanically coated.

In these tribologic systems watch and clock oils have to reduce friction and wear. Surface-pressures in the bearings are sometimes very high, whereas the sliding speeds are very low. At a speed of 1mm per day (0.00001157mm/s), the hour hand of a watch or clock is permanently in a state of boundary lubrication, the barrel-arbor is moving even slower. The axis of the day-disc turns one time per month. Some astronomic watches contain shafts, that have less than one revolution in 10 years (external planets).

The watch or clock oil must not act corrosively with the materials used. It must not resinify (become gum-like). And -very important- it is supposed to stay in place and must not creep away. The amounts (volumes) of lubricant applied are very small: 0.05 to 2 microliters. One microliter is one thousandth of a milliliter.

Instrument oils are mainly composed similar to watch or clock oils, but they have a different profile of requirements. Instruments like gyrocompasses, electrically driven miniature drives, scanners, etc.) often work with high rotational speeds. Thus, the instrument oil is supposed to have a low viscosity. It must not vaporize or volatilize. In aeronautical instruments, temperatures can reach as low as -60°C.

Precision oils for instruments in car dashboards require a range of temperature of -40°C to +150°C. Some of the systems produced today, are reaching the borders of what is technically possible. The step motor of a swatch for example is ticking once per second. The same motor turns in a dashboard instrument with 20,000 rpm, just by a different electronic control. The precision lubricant in the bearings has to be of highest quality with lowest tolerances in production. A deviation of only a few percent in viscosity can already lead to failure.

Watch and clock greases/ instrument greases. Out of watch and clock oils and instrument oils, precision greases can be made. A precision grease contains the basic oil and thickener to provide the greases with structure. These thickeners often are metallic soaps, anorganic powders, micronized solid lubricants or polymer powders.

Instrument greases very often are soft greases with a content of thickener below 4%. These greases are of a creamy or semiliquid consistency.

In our watch and clock greases, we often add PTFE. PTFE reduces the static friction and provides emergency lubricating properties. Contrary to an oil, a grease remains stationary. It also may be used for lubricating open bearing zones.